After a stressful lifelong career as a registered nurse, an Albert Lea native is finding success in a second career as a novelist.

Ellen Jensen-Dean, now of Orange, Calif., has had one book published and now has a second in the editing phase.

Jensen-Dean said she can’t remember a time when, once she learned to read, that she didn’t have a book nearby. &uot;Reading was always one of my favorite pastimes with my preference leaning toward mysteries and biographies,&uot; she said.

But as a full-time nurse who commuted an hour each way to and from work for years, reading was not an option during those long and tedious trips. &uot;So the next best thing was to use my creativity,&uot; she said.

Jensen-Dean said she needed an escape after a long day of taking care of patients or having participated in a code blue. &uot;To continue to mull over the events wouldn’t change the outcome, but only add stress to an already overloaded psyche,&uot; she added.

She found that turning on the radio to soft music would allow her imagination to create characters and weave them into various scenarios. &uot;By the time I arrived home, I had already been able to put aside the problems of an extremely stressful job. I could then begin refreshed the second part of my day with my family.&uot;

As Jensen-Dean’s imagination began to create characters and plots she decided it would be fun to write them down. &uot;Somehow writing about them gave them life and validity,&uot; she said. &uot;Soon I realized that it provided not only personal enjoyment, but also the much-needed relaxation at the end of the day.&uot;

She said she had the idea for her first book, &uot;En Dukke,&uot; for quite some time, but it wasn’t until she retired from nursing that she was able to focus her time and efforts on the book.

&uot;After that it quickly began to take form.

I won’t pretend that there weren’t rejection letters.

They are par for the course as any author will tell you, but I never permitted these to dissuade me.

Then after about a year, to my delight, it was accepted for publication,&uot; the author said.

&uot;En Dukke&uot; (Danish for &uot;the doll&uot;) is a fiction book of intrigue and romance surrounding a southern California family. Anna Hansen had such fond memories of Emelia, the special doll given to her by her grandparents in Denmark for Christmas in 1937, that she couldn’t bear to pack her up again and leave her neglected in the attic. What Anna didn’t know was that the doll contained hidden secrets about the Reich and their supporters during World War II &045; information that would put her family in jeopardy and change their lives forever.

Anna’s eldest daughter and her boyfriend rush to discover the hidden secrets before members of a secret society, bent on seeking revenge against those who supported the Gestapo, plot to gain the information they so desperately want.

Jensen-Dean’s grandparents actually did live in Denmark during World War II and contact was lost for several years while that country remained under German occupation. They gave her a doll which she chose to be the brainteaser piece for this mystery.

&uot;Because I received it just prior to the war, it seemed only appropriate that that portion of history would fit into the story which actually takes place many years later,&uot; she said.

Jensen-Dean said the reviews of the book have been very favorable.

Her second book, “A Return to Say Good-bye,” which is also a fictional mystery, is expected to be released in time for the holidays.

Its central character is a woman, Catherine Nielsen-Lowe, who after years of absence returns to her hometown for the sale of the family farm.

She expected this to be a nostalgic trip home to say a final good-bye to the place that held all her childhood memories.

Suddenly by a strange twist of fate she is engulfed in a sinister arena of intrigue and murder.

Of course, there is romance when during one of the harrowing moments she meets the handsome development consultant, Mike Summars.

Although attracted to one another neither is looking for a relationship, but their lives become more and more entangled as dangerous events threaten to destroy Catherine.

&uot;En Dukke&uot; can be ordered via the web from the publisher, American Book Publishing, at www.pdbookstore.com and at www.amazon.com. She doesn’t have any immediate plans for a local book signing, but will be coming to Albert Lea for the Jensen family reunion in June of 2004.

Jensen-Dean grew up in Albert Lea and graduated from Albert Lea High School.

After completing her nurses’ training at Fairview Hospital School of Nursing in Minneapolis, she moved to California.

She and her brother, Ove, still own the family farm on South Broadway Ave. &uot;So I continue to consider myself at least part resident,&uot; she said.

(Contact Geri McShane at lifestyles@albertleatribune.com, or call 379-3436.)